Over 300 musicians and singers from a number
of New York and San Francisco choruses have come
together for this behemoth production. In
addition to a huge onstage orchestra with an
almost obscene percussion section, the concert
hall will be surrounded by four brass bands, to
add an awesome quadrophonic dimension to this
spectacular sonic feast. The Grande Messe
des Morts is seldom heard because of the
great difficulty of assembling the great forces
demanded by the composer. This has been
accomplished through the cooperative efforts of
the Finger Lakes Choral Festival of Greater
Rochester (NY), Redwood Symphony and the San
Francisco Lyric Chorus, in assembling singers
and musicians for this performance.

About the music

Richard Strauss: Also Sprach Zarathustra,
Fanfare/Introduction

Also know as “Sunrise” as heard
in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was
hard to resist the temptation to take advantage
of our four brass bands to raise the roof with
this short musical gem.

Felix Mendelssohn: Hebrides Overture

Also known as the Fingal’s Cave Overture, the
work was inspired by a cavern known as Fingal’s
Cave on Staffa, an island in the Hebrides
archipelago located off the west coast of
Scotland. On a “Grand Tour” of Europe, the
21-year-old composer was struck by its beauty
and immediately jotted down a sketch reflecting
his musical impression of the place.

Hector Berlioz: Shepherd’s Farewell from
L’Enfance du Christ

The Childhood of Christ is an oratorio based
on the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.
This selection is a farewell and wish for safe
passage sung to the Christ Child by the
shepherds as the Holy Family is about to depart.

Arrigo Boito: Mefistofele, Final Chorus

As the aging Faust approaches the end of his
life, he dreams of a tranquil and fruitful
world, free of evil. Mephistopheles becomes
alarmed and urges Faust to come away with him,
but his temptations are thwarted by the
appearance of a heavenly choir. Faust,
enraptured by the celestial vision, begs for
deliverance from evil and is granted redemption
as his dying wish. Mephistopheles acknowledges
defeat and whistles derisively at the holy
seraphim as they shower him with rose petals.

Hector Berlioz: Requiem (Grande Messe des
Morts) Opus 5

In July 1837, Hector Berlioz was approached
by the French Minister of the Interior to
compose a Requiem Mass to be performed as part
of a three-day event commemorating soldiers who
died in the Revolution of 1830. But just days
before the scheduled performance, the event was
shortened over concerns that it might again
revive revolutionary passions, so the premiere
of the Requiem was canceled. Fortuitously, at
least for the Requiem, in October of that year,
the commander of a French force in Algeria,
General Damrèmont, was mortally wounded in a
siege on the city of Constantine. Berlioz was
summoned by the Minister of War and asked to
premiere the Requiem at a ceremony in December
commemorating General Damrèmont and the soldiers
killed in the siege.

The Requiem is an imposing work, with a score
that calls for an orchestra of over 200 players,
including four offstage brass bands and a chorus
of 220 singers. But this is only the starting
point. Berlioz suggests that these forces may be
doubled or tripled if space permits. It is a
work of stunning contrasts; gentle and urgent
pleas for mercy, frightening visions of the
apocalypse, majestic, glorious, and mysterious
sonorities, and finally, an ethereal conclusion
that captures the essence of eternity. In his
memoirs Berlioz wrote, “If I were threatened
with the destruction of the whole of my works
save one, I should crave mercy for the Messe
des morts.”

One unusual aspect of the work is that it is
scored only for sopranos, tenors and basses.
Since the reality is that most choruses have
large alto sections, most performances require
drawing up a complicated set of instructions for
altos to follow that has them switching between
the second soprano and first tenor parts. This
performance features a new edition that adds an
alto part to the score, relieving the altos of
the tedious practice of entering these
instructions in their scores.